There are only a few days left until we find out if Deepa Mehta's latest film and cinematic achievement, Water, will be able to upset Pan's Labyrinth* at the Academy Awards. As you may remember me sharing earlier this month, the director went through all sorts of hell to finish the feature, falling prey to terrible threats of violence and huge wrenches in production. However, with the fate of Water not yet sealed, she is already gearing up for her next film -- Exclusion. Now that the script has been finalized and is preparing to film at the end of the year, she's spoken to Reuters about it.

Like her previous features, this movie will also explore heavy topics -- specifically a true incident about a ship full of Indian passengers hoping to immigrate to Canada in 1914. When they got to their destination, they were turned around by Canadian authorities because of exclusion laws meant to keep Asian immigrants away. The ship was then forced to go to Hong Kong and Kolkata, where some passengers were killed by British colonial police during a protest.

As with her other projects, Mehta was drawn to the story because of their fight for dignity: "Most of my films are about human dignity, be it Fire or Water. Exclusion also tells about a 58-year-old Sikh revolutionary with a very strong sense of dignity." This role has already been cast, as Mehta has picked Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan for the part. According to the director, he was chosen for his ability to "show power without screaming" -- because, as she explains, a threat to dignity is not a screaming anger. Coming from a woman who believes in the old adage that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, the role seems a bit like a reflection of herself.

*Thanks to Elizabeth for noting the error.

It has been a long journey for the Canadian, Indian-language film, Water. The third in director Deepa Mehta's trilogy of elements (Earth and Fire being the previous two) addresses the abysmal lives of widows in India. Based on the belief that marriage unites the soul, and thus death makes the widow half-dead, Water follows the disheartening tradition of taking the woman's colorful apparel, giving her a white sari and moving her into abject poverty within ashrams for widows. Obviously, questioning tradition raised trouble for film, as Kim Voynar previously touched on in her review and her news that the film could be submitted for Oscar consideration as a foreign film (it's now nommed for Best Foreign Pic).

The producer of Water, David Hamilton, recently spoke to the Ottawa Sun about the ordeal to get the film made, and sheds light on just what they want through in the process -- which puts common working gripes into perspective. According to Hamilton, "I used to get calls in the middle of the night saying they were going to rape and kill the actors, the actresses, the director... We had our phones tapped, they had a mole in our production office, they were pretty well-organized." A number of films inspire unstable fanatics to issue death threats, but those received by the crew of the film were more than the police in India could take. After "riots, burning effigies, and the threat of more violence," their permit was removed and the filmmakers fled.

The devastation over the ordeal is what led Mehta to write and direct Bollywood/Hollywood to give the emotionally charged filmmakers some much-needed fun. After their comic foray and some re-grouping, the team once again starting shooting the film in Sri Lanka, it became the first Canadian film to be picked up by Fox Searchlight and it now has a chance to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Pan's Labyrinth is the obvious favourite, but Hamilton is hopeful: "I think we have a shot." Whether they do or not, they definitely win the golden statue for dedication and perseverence.

Of all the actors who are regularly mentioned on Cinematical, Johnny Depp certainly seems to be the most popular. So, I am glad to be able to give the readers another update on Depp's passion project, Shantaram, which has just acquired a new director. Indian auteur Mira Nair has signed on to the film, which is based on Gregory David Roberts' mostly autobiographical novel. Shooting is now slated to begin later this year, once Depp is done with Sweeney Todd.

It has been awhile since we last heard about this film -- its formerly attached director, Peter Weir, dropped out last summer. But there were probably few worries that Depp would run out of projects to work on. Aside from Sweeney, he's also slated for The Rum Diary and maybe Rex Mundi. Plus, his production company has a number of adaptations he could star in. Still, Shantaram is the film that Depp paid $2 million for rights to, so he was probably most interested in getting it off and running again.

With only a week away from announcing the Oscar nominations, and with no apparent need to do so, the Academy has pared down its list of eligible foreign-language films from 61 to nine. This is the first time the Academy has shortlisted the category, but the decision to do so falls in line with a number of other changes pertaining to the category.

Those changes, which I told you about last summer, are a good thing for at least two of the nine films. Water and Black Book each would have been disqualified in previous years, but now their language issues are in full compliance with the rules. Of course, had they not made the cut, there might have been some happier countries in Asia or Australia, the two continents not represented (Antarctica may get some love from Happy Feet's animation nomination). It is too bad that Japan couldn't claim Golden Globe winner Letters From Iwo Jima and also too bad for Oz that Ten Canoes wasn't chosen.

The foreign-language Oscar race is heating up, as a good deal of high-profile names are being added to the list of contenders. Earlier Kevin reported that Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labrynth is Mexico's submission, and Kim has pointed out that other familiar names like Deepa Mehta and Ari Kuarismaki plus the much buzzed-about The Lives of Others are all up for nominations, as well. The best odds of a guaranteed spot in the noms, however, has to be Volver, which has just been announced as Spain's official entry. This was a bit of a surprise considering Pedro Almodóvar's past couple films were not submitted by Spain (Talk to Her ended up being nominated for ,and winning, the Best Original Screenplay award), but seeing as the Academy loves him (he also won the foreign-language Oscar for All About My Mother), the country must have realized it is in their favor to let the filmmaker represent them.

Not only will Volver certainly be nominated, I figure it also has the best chance to win. Of course, the Academy could also give another director a shot this time around. No matter who gets the prize, this category is going to be a lot more interesting (and better filled) in 2007 than it was in 2006.

1996 was the year that filmmaker Deepa Mehta released Fire, a film about a lesbian relationship in modern India. It was the first part of her element trilogy -- poking a stick at various 'elements' of Indian traditionalism -- and after its first screening in an Indian theater, rioters burned that theater to the ground. The second part of the trilogy, Earth, explored the fractious relationship between India and Pakistan, and got a similar reception. In February 2000, Mehta began filming the concluding chapter, Water, which points a finger at the Hindu tradition of shunning widows. Such was the atmosphere that the film crew had to be escorted to the set every day by anti-riot brigades.

The director was burned in effigy and editorials were published advocating that she be beaten "black and blue." A well-organized mob of enraged Hindu activists, backed by powerful political parties, finally attacked and destroyed the film's sets, forcing a costly relocation out of India and a long delay in shooting. [Note to fans of V for Vendetta -- this is controversial filmmaking.] The Indian government's withdrawal of support for Water in the face of violence caused outrage among filmmakers worldwide. George Lucas famously took out a full-page ad in Variety, threatening never to work in India.

Water was ultimately finished under a cloak of secrecy in Sri Lanka, with a new cast that included Indian-Canadian actress Lisa Ray in a leading role. Sometimes referred to as the 'Indian Angelina Jolie,' Lisa is a world-renowned beauty and former model who first got noticed in the film Bollywood/Hollywood, a jab at the existential silliness of Bollywood musicals. Her role in Water, as a young widow facing horrendous discrimination, is a dive into the deep end of the pool of social criticism cinema. Cinematical recently spoke with Lisa about Water.

Ryan: As you know, there was a good deal of controversy surrounding the making of this film. The production ended once in disaster when the sets were burned and trashed by Hindu fanatics who perceived the film's message as anti-Hindu. What's your general take on all of that?

LR: I wasn't involved when Deepa made the first attempt, but it was so well-publicized that I was well aware of it. Then Deepa sent me the script. She sent it under a working title -- she didn't tell me what it was. It had some really cheesy title like River Moon or something like that. As soon as I read it and realized it was Water I just thought 'wow,' what a privilege it would be to be a part of this. If anything, the controversy surrounding it was an even more compelling reason to be a part of it. It's the triumph of the artistic, or the human spirit, over fundamentalist forces. I think that's the only way it affected me -- it only made me more determined to be part of the project. Of course, I would have wanted to be a part of this project on its own merits.